Rounding off a stunning-sounding ensemble that creates an incredibly versatile, pro-end dry stage sample library recorded in the crisp and vibrant setting of AIR Studios’ Studio 1.

Spitfire Audio is proud to announce availability of SPITFIRE STUDIO WOODWINDS — which represents the British music technology company’s third and final self-explanatory release in its indispensable SPITFIRE STUDIO ORCHESTRA range, rounding off a stunning-sounding ensemble that creates an incredibly versatile, pro-end dry stage sample library recorded in the crisp and vibrant setting of AIR Studios’ Studio 1 to offer composers an astounding woodwind experience that captures every grain in depth and detail, duly available as ‘standard’ (SPITFIRE STUDIO WOODWINDS) and ‘extended’ (SPITFIRE STUDIO WOODWINDS PROFESSIONAL) editions — as of February 14…

By choosing the crisp and vibrant setting of AIR Studios’ Studio 1, smaller and more controllable — capable of accommodating up to 45 musicians across its 140m2 floating floor (with a specially designed sliding door system that allows it to be divided into acoustically separated areas) — compared to the opulence of AIR Studios’ Lyndurst Hall — helpfully accommodating a full symphony orchestra with choir as one of the largest recording rooms in the world — where Spitfire Audio has hitherto recorded an abundance of award-winning orchestral libraries in its ongoing mission to inspire a generation of music makers, SPITFIRE STUDIO WOODWINDS follows hot on the heels of its successful SPITFIRE STUDIO ORCHESTRA series siblings — SPITFIRE STUDIO STRINGS and SPITFIRE STUDIO BRASS — to offer a wide range of instruments from its namesake section. Serving up everything from the guttural depths of the bassoon to the gleaming sounds of the piccolo... it’s all there for the taking.

Two years in the making, the SPITFIRE STUDIO ORCHESTRA series’ third and final self-explanatory sample library bears all the treasured hallmarks of Spitfire Audio: A-list London session players performing with the best instruments through an unparalleled signal path recorded to tape by multiple GRAMMY® Awards-winning engineer Simon Rhodes in a revered room perfectly suited to capturing the granular detail and velvet sonority of the woodwind family. Following in the footsteps of the company’s customary Lyndhurst Hall-hatched SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC... ranges, Spitfire Audio again applied a ‘no stone left unturned’ approach to its aftermath: an encyclopaedia of articulations, dynamic layers, and round-robins for seamless, nuanced realism.

Reaching for the ‘standard’ SPITFIRE STUDIO WOODWINDS will take users straight to the namesake section’s roots for instant results: 143 articulations across 11 instruments, including five solo ones — namely, Piccolo, Flute Solo 1,Flutes a3, Alto Flute Solo, Oboe Solo 1, Oboes a3, Clarinet Solo 1, Clarinets a3, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon Solo 1, and Bassoons a3... and all recorded to a (Decca) Tree rig featuring Schoeps microphones. Meanwhile, SPITFIRE STUDIO WOODWINDS PROFESSIONAL provides all that, but branches out still further with no fewer than 185 articulations and 15 instruments to its notable name — this time reaching from the dazzling Piccolo right the way down to the underbelly of the section to also include Contrabassoon, Contrabass Clarinet, and Bass Flute. Furthermore, extensive control of the sound is also available, thanks to the inclusion of two ready-to-go mixes (M1 and M2), two close-mic arrangements (C1 and C2), two Decca Tree setups (T1 and T2), ambient mics (A), and outriggers (O), so users can access and personalise their own mix of Simon Rhodes’ microphone armoury — all the way from pin-sharp to super-wide, picked up by the best from Neumann, Schoeps, and Sennheiser.

Simon Rhodes — representing an obvious choice to helm the SPITFIRE STUDIO ORCHESTRA series as an absolute microphone magician, having worked at the highest level in film score recording, including being American composer, conductor, and orchestrator James Horner’s go-to engineer for 18 years, with blockbuster movies such as Avatar, Spectre, and Skyfall having all benefitted from his Midas touch — reveals: “For the SPITFIRE STUDIO WOODWINDSsessions, the approach echoes what we did with the SPITFIRE STUDIO STRINGS and SPITFIRE STUDIO BRASS, so there is complete consistency between the libraries. The main Schoeps room mics were the same, and I captured two flavours of spots.”

Such peerless attention to detail abounds elsewhere, extending right the way through to those aforesaid articulations, which faithfully fulfil all the traditional requirements while also encompassing extended techniques, such as multi-tongue, air and key FX, staccatissimo, and swells; all are immediately musical — no matter what level the user is performing at, and all are instantly usable.

Of course, the time has come for Spitfire Audio to simultaneously make both editions of all three libraries available as SPITFIRE STUDIO ORCHESTRA and SPITFIRE STUDIO ORCHESTRA PROFESSIONAL — perfect for anyone looking to buy a library that will provide them with the most bang for the buck by being usable in the widest range of musical settings, ready to add their favourite reverbs and other effects; engineering so much versatility into this library leaves little doubt: surely SPITFIRE STUDIO ORCHESTRA is destined to become a cherished part of their music-making experience throughout the next decade — and beyond, even?

Ending on a high note, company co-founder Paul Thomson — an accomplished music-to-picture composer in his own right — takes Spitfire Audio’s ambitious studio journey to a heartfelt musical finale. “When you put your arrangements together, you’ll find that these all lock together really beautifully,” he affirms, adding: “With the mic options in there, you can get a really tailored sound — either from a very close, full intimate sound, or a really staged, film studio scoring stage sound.”

Spitfire Audio is a British music technology company that specialises in sounds — sample libraries, virtual instruments, and other useful software devices. It collaborates with the best composers, artists, and engineers in the world to build musical tools that sound great and are exciting to use.

IN BRIEF

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